katy perry

Kristen Wiig had a great week. It's not going to come as too much of a surprise to anyone that she's at the top of the list this week. The problem is, when Wiig excels, the rest of the female cast suffers. That's just the way it seems to be. This problem is heightened when there's a female host – in that since the Tina Fey era, it's not exactly like it's been easy to get airtime as a female cast member (sans Wiig). So add one more female to the equation as a host and, well, you'll see.

Katy Perry wasn't listed as the 'SNL' musical guest last night (that was Robyn), but, boy, she sure did sing a lot. Of the eight segments that Perry made an appearance in, she sang in six of them. I'm sorry, but that's pretty telling that the writers didn't know what else to really do with her. And to be fair to the writers: from what we saw of Perry, they probably did the best that they could. And it's always a bad sign when the host plays his or herself, which, yeah, she did that, too. I appreciate Perry willing to stretch herself as host instead of "musical guest who also appears in a sketch", but, yeesh, this was pretty bad. Not even Matt Damon and Val Kilmer could save this show. But, hey: At least Kristen Wiig had a good show. And 'Weekend Update' saved this show from being the worst of the season. Barely. On to a pretty ugly scorecard...

Fresh off her special achievement win at last night's 'American Music Awards,' it has been announced that Katy Perry will host 'Saturday Night Live' on Dec. 10.

The Grammy nominee is no stranger to the 'SNL' stage, having performed as the musical guest when Amy Poehler hosted last September.

Still, this will be Perry's first time as the star of the show, following in the footsteps of husband Russell Brand, who had a successful turn as host in February.

Though best known for her musical skills and penchant for winning MTV VMAs (three in 2011, including Video of the Year), Perry is beginning to branch out into acting. She lent her voice to 'The Smurfs' this summer, playing the iconic role of Smurfette, and appeared on CBS' 'How I Met Your Mother' earlier this year, as one of Barney's (Neil Patrick Harris) ditzy dates.

This week, 'Beavis and Butt-head' (Thu., 10PM ET on MTV) was perhaps twice as funny than the premiere last week. Not only were the boys ripping on MTV's reality fare and music videos as acerbically and hilariously as ever, but the two shorts were far stronger this time around as well.

Last week's stories were almost too complex (the werewolf saga) and too simple (Beavis crying), while this week found a balance between the two. The boys don't need to do much to be hilarious. Sitting outside a girl's house waiting for her "hand," and then taking tech support phone calls is about as much complexity as we need for laughs.

New episodes 'Glee' are just days away and just in time to put your fevered anticipation over the top, Darren Criss' performance of Katy Perry's 'Last Friday Night (TGIF)' has hit the web.

Criss' Blaine made his 'Glee' debut famously belting Perry's 'Teenage Dream.' Both Criss and fellow 'Glee' star Kevin McHale appeared in Perry's 'Last Friday Night' music video. How does the 'Glee' cover compare to the original? See for yourselves!

Be sure to look out for some fun Klaine moments and the entire glee club getting in on the bouncing around action.

'Glee' isn't back until Tues., Nov. 1 and we know it'll be a rough few weeks for Gleeks. However to tide you over, you might want to see these previews from the next all-new episode, 'Pot O' Gold.'

In the episode, 'The Glee Project' winner Damian McGinty makes his first appearance as an exchange student, Blaine (Darren Criss) sings Katy Perry again and Mercedes and Santana cover Christina Aguilera's 'Candyman.' Plus, it looks like Quinn is still scheming to get Beth back.

You weren't fooling anyone Ryan Seacrest by pretending you were backstage with Jacob and Stefano after Katy Perry and Kanye West's performance of 'E.T.' We've seen enough of these 'American Idol' (Thu., 8PM ET on FOX) to know a pre-recorded segment when we see it.

Or how about the fact that the audience was deathly quiet when they cut to the trio backstage. They were just cheering raucously at the conclusion of Perry's memorable performance, as well as West's mid-song appearance.

When the number began with a clip of West rapping from the 'E.T.' video, we weren't sure if he was going to be on hand, but he showed up later to bring his signature style to the hit single.

Simon Cowell continues to be cagey regarding final selection for the 'X Factor' judges panel. He did, however, reveal the names of possible judges and those who definitely aren't being considered on 'Access Hollywood Live' (weekdays, syndicated).

Oprah Winfrey took over the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood and Highland on Monday for an Ultimate After-Oscar Party edition of 'The Oprah Winfrey Show' (weekdays, syndicated) that included Anne Hathaway, Geoffrey Rush and Oscar-winners Tom Hooper and Colin Firth ('The King's Speech) and Oscar-winner Melissa Leo ('The Fighter').

At the end of the show, Winfrey brought out Staten Island's PS 22 fifth grade children's choir (they closed Sunday's Oscar ceremony with a chorus of 'Over the Rainbow') to sing 'Firework' and, surprise, Katy Perry -- dressed all in gold -- stepped out from behind the stage to join the children in song. Perry had flown all night from Vienna to appear on the show with Winfrey and the children and, appropriately, her appearance was heralded by electronic fireworks on stage. Russell Brand should be proud.

It appears Rachel Berry's wish is coming true: New Directions will definitely take on original songs in an upcoming episode of 'Glee.'

The two tunes, 'Loser Like Me' (co-written by the man behind Britney Spears' biggest hits, Max Martin) and 'Get It Right' (a ballad apparently tailor-made for Lea Michele), will debut on 'Glee: The Music, Volume 5' when it's released on March 8 and will be included in the March 15 episode of the show.

Also on the new disc: two Michael Jackson tunes (the buzzed-about 'Thriller'/'Heads Will Roll' mashup and 'P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing),' two Justin Bieber tracks ('Baby' and 'Somebody to Love'), the Katy Perry cover 'Firework' and the return of Gwyneth Paltrow on Prince's 'Kiss,' Fleetwood Mac's 'Landslide' and Joan Jett's 'Do You Wanna Touch Me (Oh Yeah).'

Did Carter Bays and Craig Thomas kill off Marshall's dad in order to accommodate Jason Segel's movie career?

It certainly feels like it after watching this episode. Under the guise that Marshall has to stay in Minnesota to help out his widowed mom, we see Marshall for the most part interact with the gang via phone. It feels like those scenes and the early flashback scene he was in allowed him to shoot his scenes for the week before anyone else did so he could go play with the Muppets or whatever other movie project he's on right now.

What the finished product ended up being, though, was a cute story told in an awkward fashion. Think what you will about Jennifer Morrison as Zoey, but she's been Ted's most promising girlfriend in a few years, and it was fun to see Ted try to be mature about his feelings for her. It was also good to see Katy Perry's guest shot go from gratuitous to actually being involved in the plot.

To promote Katy Perry's upcoming guest spot on 'How I Met Your Mother,' Neil Patrick Harris tweeted these promos he filmed with Perry. What's weird is that instead of clips from the show, they're 'Saturday Night Live'-style promos, with Perry announcing her appearance and Harris making funny quips as himself (but channeling his character, Barney).

It's all very strange -- couldn't the show have released some actual footage? Or is Perry's acting that questionable? Still, we're excited for next week's episode, especially since HIMYM is a repeat tonight. View the clip after the jump.

An attractive young lady has been cast on 'How I Met Your Mother,' so the speculation can now begin: Is she the mother?

Continuing in the storied tradition of pop star cameos on the CBS comedy, Katy Perry has signed on to guest star in an episode later this season. According to The Hollywood Reporter, she'll play the cousin of Jennifer Morrison's character, Zooey, "a beautiful, naive girl whom the gang resorts to calling 'honey'."

"Let's talk about 'Dancing With the Stars'!" comedienne Kathy Griffin yelled to the crowd. Oh, can we? What shall we discuss? How Carrie Ann Inaba is of mixed Japanese, Chinese and Irish ancestry? Do we want to talk about Derek Hough's record third win on the show? Should we gab about Florence Henderson's 'Brady Bunch'-themed tango? Or are we ... going to end up talking about Bristol Palin again?

"We got two words," Griffin continued. "BRISTOL ... PALIN." Ah. We see. Kathy was performing in front of a huge crowd of soldiers for 'VH1 Divas: Salute the Troops.' (Sun., 9PM ET on VH1). But as soon as she mentioned the dreaded words "Bristol Palin," the boos started rolling in from the troops. Wait. What are we booing again? Bristol? Kathy's sailor outfit? ... Kathy's comedy routine?

It turned out that the troops were jeering Ms. Griffin's routine. "You're gonna like this," she continued gamely. "[Bristol is] the only contestant in the history of the show to actually gain weight. ... She gained like 30 pounds a week. I swear to God, it was fantastic -- she's like the white 'Precious.'"